Swedish Bioinvent issues shares worth SEK299m (USD28m)
BioInvent has successfully carried out a directed share issue of approximately SEK 300 million (approximately USD 28.3 million). A number of international and Swedish investors participated, including new investors such as AXA Investment Managers and a US institutional investor and the existing shareholders Forbion, HBM Healthcare Investments, Redmile Group, Invus, the Fourth National Swedish Pension Fund and Swedbank Robur Fonder, with demand for the new shares exceeding the size of the planned volume.
A key prerequisite for BioInvents growing pipeline of immuno-oncology drug candidates is strong financial resources, securing that the clinical programs can be brought to important value inflection points. Our strategy is to finance the Company out of strength and the recent successful developments gave us an opportunity to execute on this strategy", said Martin Welschof, CEO of BioInvent.
During the last year, BioInvent from Lund in Sweden has continued its clinical progress with its pipeline of novel and first-in-class immuno-modulatory antibodies for cancer therapy. The lead program BI-1206 has presented positive clinical data in NHL as well as in solid tumors. The Phase 1 data in NHL published so far (December 2021) include early signs of efficacy in the form of three long-lasting complete responses, four partial responses and one stable disease in 13 patients with NHL evaluated for therapeutic benefit. Based on these data, the FDA has agreed that the ongoing Phase 1/2a study may proceed into its expansion phase.
At the AACR annual meeting in March 2022, positive data were presented on the anti-TNFR2 program BI-1808, showing similar biomarker correlations in the ongoing clinical Phase 1/2a trial as observed in the preclinical setting. Furthermore, the company, jointly with its partner Transgene, recently gave a positive clinical update on the oncolytic virus BT-001, showing that the virus replicates in the tumor, expressing the anti-CTLA-4 antibody.
A fourth drug candidate (BI-1607) is expected to enter clinical development in July, which will bring the total number of ongoing clinical trials to five.
"The performed directed share issue provides us with an even stronger base of institutional investors and strengthens our financial position, enabling us to deliver on our portfolio strategy with ‘multiple shots on goal’. Last but not least, it brings the value of a strong balance sheet in the current challenging market and geopolitical conditions, which is expected to last for a longer period, Martin Welschof added.
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